For 19 years Rubens Barrichello graced the road and street courses of Formula One. By the time he lost his ride with Team Williams – his sixth F1 team – to a younger and better-funded Bruno Senna after the 2011 season, Barrichello had compiled the eighth-most points in the history of the circuit.

In 2010, he became the first driver with at least 300 Grand Prix starts.

“I don’t know the numbers very well, but I’ve raced in many, many Grands Prix,” said Barrichello, who had 322. “And to be honest, to be able to compete in that many means I was good over there and people enjoyed the fact that I was there.

“It was a great prize, I think, for everything I’ve done in Formula One.”

But with only 10th- and 17th-place finishes to show for the past two years with Team Williams, the writing was on the wall.

“The team was running through financial situations and, Bruno is a very good racing driver, but he’s got a little more cash,” Barrichello said.

Well, Formula One’s loss is IndyCar’s gain. Barrichello tested with KV Racing Technology during the offseason and was signed for 2012. He will make his Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach debut this weekend.

The timing of Barrichello’s arrival could not have been better because it coincides with the excitement of IndyCar’s new car, as well as the unfortunate departure of the series’ most popular driver, Danica Patrick, who is now in NASCAR full-time.

Barrichello finds it all very interesting.

“Well, I’m not saying that it’s been a coincidence, in a way, that IndyCar lost Danica Patrick and I’m coming in,” he said, laughing slightly. “I mean, I’m not here to fill anybody’s place.

“But you know, things happened very quickly.

“I didn’t know it was going to happen. I was asked to drive the car for fun and I went very fast and the team invited me to race.”

Expected or not, Barrichello realizes he’s being counted on to inject some life into IndyCar.

“IndyCar has been very popular everywhere in the world, especially in Brazil,” said Barrichello, who finished as high as second in series points twice in F1.

“I look forward to racing the whole championship over the year and I hope that I can help a little bit, the whole situation at IndyCar. I think it’s very, very popular, but I want to make it more.”

Some of IndyCar’s top veterans believe that’s exactly what he’ll do.

“I’m sure there will be a lot of people within the F1 community that may not have followed IndyCar before, following us,” Ryan Briscoe said. “There will be a lot of fans from all over the world, especially in Brazil, that will take even more notice to IndyCar.

“I think it is huge. He is a great driver with a massive amount of popularity.”

Will Power, who won this season’s second race April 1 at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama, seconds that.

“I think people will be watching with interest from Europe to see how Rubens Barrichello does,” Power said. “So it’s good for our series, it’s good to have a name like that.”

About half of F1’s races are in Europe.

Four-time series champion Dario Franchitti agreed that Barrichello’s worldwide renown is terrific. But he also doled out a caution to himself and the rest of the IndyCar drivers.

“On track I believe he’s going to be really tough to beat,” Franchitti said. “It’s a case of getting the car working for you and driving to the limit of the car. … When he figures that out and the strategies and all that, he’ll be an absolute contender.

“Everything Rubens brings is a positive. I’m so excited about it. I won’t be saying that when he beats me, but I think it’s great.”

Yes, figuring out the car is one of Barrichello’s challenges.

Deciphering all the tracks that are completely foreign to him is another.

“What I’m going to be able to do is difficult to say because I don’t know, for example, the tracks,” Barrichello said. “I tested at Sonoma and I tested at Barber, but it’s very difficult. People (IndyCar veterans) have been doing this for a long time and they know everywhere to go.

“But I’m very optimistic and one thing I can promise is to give everything that I have.”

Barrichello was doing well in the season opener March 25 at St. Petersburg (Fla.), running as high as eighth after starting 13th. A fuel miscalculation caused him to run out of gas just before the end, so he placed 17th.

But don’t look now, Barrichello may already be figuring out what’s going on. He started 14th on April 1 at Barber and ended up a very impressive eighth.

It wasn’t a win, but it’s a step in that direction for a driver whose talent and appeal can mean so much to IndyCar.

“I’m a very competitive person,” Barrichello said. “KV (Racing Technology) has not won a race just yet and I hope that I can contribute to make that happen in the near future.”